Noel Abkemeier, a member of the Academy's Life Products Committee, was quoted from his testimony on behalf of the Academy to the U.S. departments of Labor and Treasury regarding lifetime income options in retirement plans. Abkemeier said that safe harbors should be expanded to facilitate plan sponsors in providing a board range of options.

Academy Health Practice Council member David Shea discussed how several health care reform provisions that are scheduled to become effective on Sept. 23 would affect the health insurance market.

Academy Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco was quoted from his testimony, along with Academy Life Products Committee member Noel Abkemeier, to the U.S. departments of Labor and Treasury regarding lifetime income options in retirement plans. The actuaries said that they support a requirement for employers to offer some form of a guaranteed lifetime income option in tax-qualified individual retirement account plans.

The Academy was cited in an op-ed by Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. for expressing concerns with the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act.

Academy Public Interest Committee Chairperson Tom Terry wrote an op-ed in support of addressing Social Security's long-term actuarial imbalance by increasing the retirement age.

Academy Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco discussed the Academy's position statement advocating that Social Security's actuarial imbalance should be address in part by increasing the retirement age. Todisco said that people are living longer, and when you have a fixed retirement age, it means a program like Social Security is going to get increasingly more expensive.

Academy Benefit and Eligibility Changes Work Group Chairperson Karen Bender quoted from the work group's Aug. 27 letter to the U.S. departments of Health and Human Service, Treasury, and Labor in response to interim final regulations on the elimination of preexisting conditions, the elimination of lifetime limits, restrictions on annual limits, and other patient protections.

Academy Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco discussed how the economic recession affected public pension plans.

Academy Public Interest Committee Chairperson Tom Terry was quoted from his Sept. 20 op-ed published by U.S. News & World Report. Terry wrote, "Today, the average retiree lives about 45 percent longer than a retiree did in 1940, and the actuaries at the Social Security Administration are projecting that retiree life expectancies will continue to improve in the years ahead. As life expectancy pushes upward, the Social Security's program's costs will very likely exceed what its scheduled financing can support."

Tom Keller, a member of the Academy's Medical Loss Ratio Regulation Work Group, discussed medical loss ratio regulations and credibility adjustments to account for statistical fluctuations.